This paper focuses on the application of auteur theory to the sound design of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho (Paramount, USA, 1960) and Paul Greengrass’s United 93 (Universal Pictures, USA, 2006), highlighting the contrasting approaches of the two directors in regards to the usage of both diegetic and non-diegetic sound to supplement the narratives of their films. This paper will display Hitchcock’s formalist approach to filmmaking, evidenced by the meticulously constructed nature of the famous “shower scene” in Psycho, and how both the diegetic and non-diegetic music is designed to elicit a physiological response from the viewer, showing how Hitchcock controls every aspect of the film to have the precise effect he desires on the audience; this paper will also look at the soundtrack’s role in the rest of the film as a primary means of supporting the film’s narrative. The formalist approach of Hitchcock will be contrasted with Paul Greengrass’s realist approach to filmmaking, which is demonstrated through the organic emotion the viewer experiences when listening to the diegetic screams and shouts of the passengers as they try to retake the plane from the hijackers in United 93, with minimal support from a soundtrack. The scene featuring the passenger’s counterattack shows that Greengrass does not manufacture a scenario to generate emotion in his viewers, but instead allows the terrifying nature of the situation to support his film’s narrative, further evidenced by the secondary role that the soundtrack plays throughout the rest of the film.
